Adlington’s call to Euro finals

Wednesday 9th April 2008, 10:11AM BST.

Shropshire-born judo ace Sarah Adlington was today jetting out to Portugal after getting a late GB call-up for the prestigious European Championships.

The 21-year-old, originally from Shrewsbury but now living and training in Edinburgh, is off to Lisbon for the championships, which run from Friday through until Sunday.

Adlington was originally named as a reserve for the event, but got her big break when she was told that Katrina Bryant had withdrawn.

Bryant, the holder of four European titles, has already qualified on the over-78kgs spot for the Beijing Olympics this summer after finishing fifth in the world championships.

That means she had no need to go to Portugal for what is the final Olympic qualifying event of the year.

Adlington will be making her first appearance for her country in a major European event and is sure to be up against a strong field.

With spots at Beijing still up for grabs a top class international field of more than 450 athletes is due to descent upon the Portuguese capital.

But Adlington already has a fine pedigree in international competition, having finished fifth in the junior world championships in 2004 and won a silver medal in the junior Europeans.